Farmers’ dilemma as locust invasion looms ahead of planting

With onset of the long rains projected for next week in most parts of the country, farmers are busy preparing for planting.

It is, however not all jolly this year amid an overhanging threat of invasion by desert locusts. The rains portend some bad news for farmers because they are likely to present a thriving ground for the pests that have so far invaded foliage across 15 counties, including in the Rift Valley- the country’s major breadbasket.

Throughout the March to May rainfall season, the locusts are expected to continue breeding and spreading, as forecast by the IGAD Climate Prediction & Applications Centre (ICPAC).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO), which has been in the forefront in fighting the menace, if rains fall, the swarms will quickly mature and lay eggs.

“… otherwise they will continue to slowly mature, awaiting arrival of the long rains in March for maturation and egg laying. In either case, hatching will lead to the formation of hopper brands in March and April,” says FAO in the latest bulletin.

Experts argue that the rains will force the locusts to move from dry areas to regions where there is rain as they search for fodder.

The weatherman in March-April-May forecast indicates that the Northeastern region is likely to experience below average rainfall. The temporal rainfall distribution is expected to be poor especially over the Eastern and Coastal regions.

The Kenya Meteorological Department says the peak of the rainfall is expected to be in April for most regions except over the Coastal strip where it is expected in May.

Counties in North Eastern and Coastal regions have been the most hit in the second wave of the invasion, prompting the government and FAO to move with speed in combating the menace.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya says the government has put in place a spirited fight to ensure that the locusts, especially the ones that have been spotted in the North Rift are eliminated before the planting time.

“These locusts could pose a very serious challenge if they will still be there by the time farmers start planting,” observes Mr Munya.

Mr Joseph Kareithi, a miraa farmer in a farmer in Tigania West knows only too well the threat posed by the pests. His family relies on income form miraa for upkeep and that the current wave locust invasion is threatening to turn them into paupers.

“They are destroying our economic lifeline, if the situation is not arrested, then we will have nothing to smile about,” he says. “Hopefully something will be done.”

The projected surge comes at a time when FAO has raised concerns over limited funds for aerial spraying.

According to the agency, the desert locust may stall at the end of this month if Kenya will not have received more funds.

Deputy country director for FAO Hamisi Williams says available funds can only run up to the end of March when the agency will be forced to stop use of aircraft for spraying if no funding is forthcoming.

FAO had requested for Sh877 million ($8 million) from donors to combat the locust menace, but has so far received Sh219 million ($2 million).

“We anticipate that the current funds can only sustain aerial services up to the end of March after which we would require more money to continue with the exercise,” notes Mr Williams.

Mr Hamisi, however, adds that other methods of controlling these pests such as ground spraying by use of hand held pumps and car mounted sprayers will continue.

United Nations had already warned that shortage of funds may hamper the fight against locusts in east Africa as the funding to sustain its operations dries up.

The agency warns that without additional financing for fuel, airtime, and pilot hours, the 28 anti-locust aircraft which are now patrolling the skies to spot and spray locust swarms could cease operations in March.

FAO Deputy Director-General Laurent Thomas says there is possibility that the region could bring this upsurge to an end this year but only if spraying is sustained.

The Kenyan government has allocated Sh1.9 billion for the fight against locusts in the recently released supplementary budget.

Second invasion

Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna says the government with partners such as FAO has so far controlled the desert locust by spraying up to 86 per cent of the total area that had been affected.

“We have controlled most of the swarms so far and we are confident of controlling this second invasion before it causes much damage,”shared Mr Oguna.

The government and FAO have deployed nine aircraft for aerial spraying with three being on standby.

The State has also established eight control bases in Isiolo, Marsabit, Masinga, Garissa, Turkana (Lodwar), Mandera, Lamu (Witu) and Taita Taveta to coordinate desert locust management operations.

In August last year, the government had indicated that preliminary research showed the desert locusts had been contained with only two counties - Turkana and Samburu - still affected

This was from a high of 28 counties that saw the invasive pest destroy pasture across the country. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation, Kenya was the hardest hit with the locust invasion as compared with her East African counterparts.

According to the study commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture last year and funded FAO, indicated that approximately 609,999 hectares of cropland and 579,786 hectares of pastureland were infested by the desert locusts.

An alert on impending invasion of the first wave of locusts was issued in February 2019 by FAO after they were reported in Yemen. The insects then spread to Somali, Ethiopia and Eritrea and then to Kenya on December 28.

Apart from the locust menace, farmers are facing another challenge of rising fuel prices ahead of the main planting season.

A sustained rebound in global oil prices has triggered fresh inflationary risk in the Kenyan economy, with a sequel expected in energy and transport costs at a time when most households are still weighed down by the economic knocks of the Covid pandemic.

The price of oil has recovered to its pre-pandemic levels having hit an all-time low last year.

In the latest price review by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority which runs until March 14, diesel prices in Nairobi rose by Sh5.51 a litre to Sh101.91—the highest since February last year.

The increase in diesel price at this time of the year has dealt a blow to farmers who will have to foot the additional cost.